Catching Your Death
by MissBarbieAnne
Summary: Ruby wakes up feeling a little under the weather on the day of an important meeting. Stubbornly, she still goes out into the cold and snow, only to have her symptoms get worse from the winter weather.


When the alarm first blared, Ruby let out a groan and reached an arm out from under the blankets, pushing the snooze button. Her whole body screamed for more sleep. She had been out late the night before, staying an extra hour with Liam and Chubs as they tried to sort through what needed to be brought up in the meeting with Senator Cruz. She was supposed to be back at the motel around 8, but hadn't stumbled through the door until ten. At that point, her throat had begun to feel funny and her head felt heavy. A good night's rest and she figured she would be good as new.

The alarm went off again nine minutes later, and again, she pushed the snooze button. Her head still felt funny, not like a migraine, but like it was not attached to her body. Like it was floating or spinning away. When she tried to lift her head up, dizziness overwhelmed her and she laid back down. She continued to doze, in and out of sleep as she continued to hit the button on the alarm that gave her a few more minutes of rest.

She was only awoken by the sudden tickle in her nose that caused her breath to hitch mercilessly. The sneeze overtook her, waking her up fully from her slumber. Sitting up, she sneezed twice more, sniffling and rubbing at her nose with her hand. Groggily, she glanced over at the clock, and her heart jumped in her chest. 7:44AM! She was supposed to be at Town Hall by 8:15 and the meeting was at 8:30.

"Shit!" She threw off the blankets and quickly stood from the bed, only to be welcomed by a new wave of dizziness. She held onto the side table until her vision stopped swimming, taking a few deep breaths. It was clearly just from exhaustion; a hot shower and she would be awake and ready to go. Never mind the congestion that was forming in her sinuses, causing a dull, steady pressure to build behind her eyes.

Quickly undressing, she turned on the hot water in the bathroom and took a quick 5-minute shower. She washed her hair, combing the conditioner in with her fingers before rinsing and getting out. She wrapped a towel around her slender frame and ran back into her bedroom, hair still dripping.

Luckily, she had laid out her clothes the night before. She tugged on the black slacks and white blouse, sliding on the blue cardigan sweater. She towel-dried her hair as best she could before brushing it out and calling it good. There was no time for a quick blow-dry. Glancing at the clock, she saw the bright numbers read 7:56. She had made pretty good time.

With a sigh of relief, she headed down the hall to retrieve her winter coat and boots, carrying her flats in her bag. Just a little way from the door, her breath started to hitch again. Her nose scrunched and she placed a hand on the wall as a sneeze overtook her. Two more followed rapidly, and she was holding a finger under her nose, trying to hold back a fourth one.

"Hihi-hschu!" She sniffled, swiping at her nose with the arm of her sweater. Just allergies, she told herself.

There was only one problem: it was January. Maybe if it was Spring or Autumn, she could get away with that excuse. The nagging voice in her head told her she was probably coming down with a cold, but she refused to give in. Today was a very important day. This meeting with the Senator would help decide further details about the lives of the Psi kids. Their opportunities for further education and employment, as well as housing for those who were not picked up by family members. It had been almost a year since the camps were taken town, and there were a lot of decisions to be made; she had to be a part of them.

Pulling on her boots, Ruby wiped at her nose once more time before sliding her arms into her black coat and zipping it up to her neck. Making one more mental check in her head, she opened the door and stepped out at exactly 8:02. She stopped dead in her tracks.  
Everything was white. The night before, it was freezing, but no snow had fallen in a week. Now, the flurries were steadily falling, already coating her hair in a powder.

"Great," She groaned, gritting her teeth. Not only was it below freezing, but it was snowing.

With great dread, she stepped out into the power and started her 10-minute walk toward the Town Hall. The Senator had gotten her into a pretty decently located motel that was walking distance from their meeting place, while Liam and Chubs crashed a little farther away. Liam had his truck, which meant they did not have to worry about how they would get to the Town Hall. The boys of course chose a hotel with Wi-Fi; Chubs insisted it was so they could look up more information for the meeting. Liam just insisted on a place with a hot tub.

A hot tub sure sounded good right now. Ruby trekked through the snow, her teeth chattering as she rubbed her hands together in front of her. Of course she forgot her gloves all the way back home. Her fingers felt numb and she tried to blow on them to get them warm, but with no luck. Her hair, still wet, was sticking to her face. Ice crystals had begun to form on the strands and she brought up her hood over her head, trying to keep whatever heat she still had inside.

The walk took longer than 10 minutes, but she still made it to Town Hall at 8:17. She pushed through the double doors, welcoming the heat that blasted against her face. Ruby looked around, but did not see Liam, Chubs, or Senator Cruz. She figured they must already be upstairs getting ready. She shrugged off her coat, sitting down in one of the armchairs so she could slip off her boots. Her nose startled to tickle again, and she tried to sniffle the feeling away, but it only made it worse. She stifled three rapid-fire sneezes against her elbow, sniffling thickly as the congestion started to settle in full-force. Her throat was also starting to feel scratchy, and she coughed a couple times to try to clear it.

With her shoes changed, she ventured into the bathroom to try and clean up a bit. Looking at herself in the mirror, she sighed. Snowflakes had crystalized in her hair, freezing it in some places. She ran her fingers through it, trying to make it look presentable. It was still going to be wet, but at least it wouldn't be frozen.

Her nose felt like it was dripping, and she sniffed, which brought on the urge to sneeze full-forced. Her head snapped forward as she let out two unstifled sneezes. Snot was hanging from her nose and she grabbed a paper towel from next to the sink and blew thickly into it. She groaned. The sick-feeling was starting to creep up on her. She felt achey and tired and her scratchy throat was starting to hurt. And her _nose_. It felt like it was plugged and it would not. Stop. Itching!

Ruby blew her nose once more, still nowhere near to the end of all this congestion, but it was almost 8:30 and she needed to head upstairs. She gathered herself and left the bathroom, only to almost collide into Liam and Chubs.

"Whoa! Sorry!" She exclaimed, not quite recognizing them at first. They were both wearing slacks and dress shirts, looking much older than she knew they were.

"Careful, darlin'. We almost ran over ya," Liam winked, reaching down to grab her hand. He recoiled a bit before bringing it up to his chest. "Ruby, your hands are freezing!"

"Yeah, well, I just came from outside," She said matter-of-factedly.

"Shit, Lee," Chubs thumped himself in the head. "We were supposed to pick her up. I _told_ you we forgot something!"

Liam's cheeks flushed red. "Fuck! I can't believe I forgot!" He kissed the back of her hand, wrapping his other arm around his waist and pulling her closer. "I'm _so so_ SO sorry. I don't know how we forgot!"

Ruby shrugged. "I don't remember us ever deciding that. I always planned on walking, that's why my motel it just a few blocks away."

Chubs gave her a quizzical look. "We told you last night we would pick you up. You agreed on it."

"I did?" Ruby furrowed her brow. "Well, it's a good thing I forgot, because otherwise I would still be there waiting on your asses."

"Really, we are so sorry," Liam kissed her forehead, dropping their hands so they hung, intertwined, between them.

"Okay, we get it. We forgot, we're sorry. Now we need to get upstairs or they will start without us!" Chubs tapped his foot impatiently.

Ruby shook her head at Chubs, but smiled. "We're coming, Charlie Boy."

That got him red from his chin to his hairline.

The meeting was not only with Senator Cruz, but also with several other senators and a couple state representatives. It was a very important meeting with very important people. But Ruby just could not seem to focus. Only a few minutes in, and her nose was itching and tingling like crazy. She did her best to hold them back, but a few stifled sneezes still snuck out. Luckily, neither Liam or Chubs noticed. Her head felt foggy and she could not quite make sense of the words coming out of Senator Cruz's mouth. It was not until she noticed Liam and Chubs staring at her that she knew it was her turn to speak.

"Oh, um, thank you, Senator," She stammered, standing up and picking up the papers in front of her with shaking hands. She only had a few lines to read off, and then Chubs was going to take over, with Liam covering the end. So why did she feel like she was about to pass out?

"Well, er, first off," She wiped at her forehead where she felt sweat was starting to bead up. "I am a member of the Psi community, as well as my friends here. We have several concerns we would like to bring up.

Firstly, with all the Psi being roughly under 20 years ago, we have questions about education. Where and when will we be able to attend school? College is a very important stepping stone in a person's life, as my friend Charles here will explain to you later." She glanced over at Chubs. She was relieved at how steady her voice was sounding.

"Next, we have similar questions about employment. Those who are not under the care of family need to have a way to support themselves. I know I can speak in behalf of all Psi that we are willing to earn our keep here in the world. And although not the last of our concerns, my final topic is h-hh…" Her words stopped in her throat and her breath hitched. She tried to make it go away, but the buildup was too much. "Hihi-ktschu! Hi-ktssch!"

She covered her nose with her sleeve, her face instantly going bright red with embarrassment.

"E-Excuse me hihi…" She hurried out of the room. Once in the hallway, she let them loose. The sneezes came one right after the other and each one just made the tingling worse. Her nose was running and she felt the wetness on her lip but she couldn't stop. She had to hold onto the wall for support, eventually letting the sneezes out unstifled and uncovered. Her body was shaking from the effort and soon she was left completely exhausted. She slid down the wall into a slump on the floor, resting her head on top of her knees. She sniffled, feeling the thick mucus shift up into her sinuses and then back down. Two more small, rapid sneezes escaped her open mouth and she wiped miserably at her nose with her sweater-covered fist.

She felt awful. Not only physically, but emotionally. She prayed she had not messed everything up for them. Everything had been going so good, if only she had held on for a little longer.

Ruby stayed in the same spot, leaning her head against the wall and pulling her sweater tightly around her frame. It felt like the building had dropped ten degrees and she tried to suppress the chills that were crawling up her spine. Her throat felt like she had swallowed knives and every time she swallowed, she winced. Any tiny movement made her limbs ache beyond belief. All she wanted was to curl up in bed and sleep for a week.

After what felt like hours, but was honestly only about 45 minutes, the doors opened and Liam and Chubs emerged. They both took one look at her and were on the ground beside her in seconds.

"Ruby, what's wrong?" Liam placed the back of his hand on her forehead, quickly pulling back with a sharp inhale. "Chubs, she has a fever!"

Ruby just pulled her sleeves down further over her hands, wrapping her arms around her abdomen. "I'm fine," She sniffed.

"Oh, don't even try it," Chubs scowled, taking his turn to place a hand on her forehead and shaking his head in disapproval. "Did you feel sick when you woke up?"

She shrugged. "Not really. I was just really tired. I was almost late."

"You should have called for us," Liam said. "We could have picked you up. Then you didn't have to walk in the snow."

Ruby sighed. "Probably didn't help that my hair was wet."

Chubs face-palmed, letting his hand slide down his face. "Ruby Elizabeth Daly. You could have caught pneumonia; do you understand that?!"

"You don't think she did, do you?" Liam fretted.

Chubs shook his head. "No, I don't think so. She isn't coughing, just super congested. It's probably just a bad cold."

Ruby nodded, sniffing a bit which threw her into a rapid-fire sneezing fit stifled in her elbow. She lost count at five sneezes, and when she finished she groaned and leaned against Liam's chest, resting her forehead on his shoulder.

"I really didn't feel this bad this morning…" She rasped, her voice getting heavy with congestion.

"Darlin', if you felt sick at all you should've told us," Liam stroked her hair, noticing the way her back muscles tensed every time her breath hitched. He knew it was coming, and he still leaned back a bit when she sneezed right onto his shoulder.

"Oh1 Liam, I'm sorry…" Ruby tried to push away, all flustered and flushed, but Liam pulled her back.

"It's okay, darlin'. You don't need to apologize for being sick."

Chubs stood up, staring at the door to the conference room. They were all still talking, but Ruby saw him give someone a nod, probably Senator Cruz.

"Okay, we're free to go," He announced. "Do you need some help getting her up?"

"Nah, I'm good," Liam replied, hooking one of Ruby's arms over his shoulder as he stood her up. "You're coming back with us."

As much as she wanted nothing more, Ruby knew she could not give in that easily. "No, it's fine. Just… just take me back to my room. I will be f-fin- hihi…"  
She sneezed into her shoulder opposite of Liam, letting out a thick sniffle as the end.

"Yeah, you just keep thinking that, tough-girl," Chubs laughed. "I'm gonna warm up the truck and bring it up front."

Liam stopped as if he was going to object. He _never_ let Chubs drive his truck. But, after glancing down as Ruby, he held his tongue.

Slowly, they made their way down the stairs and into the little waiting area by the front door where Ruby had changed her shoes. Liam helped her slide back into her coat and changed her flats back over to her boots. At this point, exhaustion had taken over and she leaned forward against his chest, barely having the energy to hold herself up.

"It's okay, darlin'. Almost there, okay?"

She nodded, letting out a couple dry coughs but wincing at the pain that seared her throat.

Liam reached down and slid an arm under her knees, hooking the other one around her shoulder and lifted her bridal style off the chair. Chubs had pulled up in front and opened the door to the backseat so Liam could slide her in. He had the heat blasting and it felt amazing on her shivering frame. Instead of taking the front seat, Liam crawled in beside her and pulled her into his side, rubbing his hand up and down her arms to try to warm her up.

Liam POV

It was a twenty-minute ride back to their hotel. A short ride, but long enough that Ruby had passed out against Liam's chest, breathing open-mouthed and leaving both snot and drool on his new dress shirt. Chubs parked the truck and helped Liam slide the sleeping Ruby out of the truck, trying not to wake her. She stirred a bit in Liam's arms, but then settled, letting out a snuffled snore.

"Why didn't she say anything to us?" He asked Chubs, even though he knew his friend didn't know the answer.

Chubs shrugged. "She is stubborn as a bull. I bet she would not have said a word if she hadn't sneezed herself out of that meeting."

Liam knew he was right, but it still made his heart hurt. He hated seeing her like this. She was weak and tired and her fever was very unsettling. He was starting to sweat just holding her this close.

"She probably wouldn't be so bad if she hadn't been out in the cold, let alone with a sopping wet head of hair." Chubs opened the door to the hotel to let Liam pass. "That has to be the most idiotic thing she has done yet."

Liam adjusted his grip on Ruby so her head rested on his shoulder. They entered the elevator and pushed button "5" to take them to the top. All he wanted to do was get her tucked under the covers and snuggle the chills from her body. Even in his arms, he could feel the occasional shudder travel down her back. Her nose had left a trail of snot down his shirt and he mentally made a note to pick up some tissues later.

"You brought another shirt, right?" Chubs asked, half teasing and half absolutely serious.

"I did," Liam replied, walking through the door to their room after Chubs slid the keycard in. He laid Ruby down gently on one of the beds, pulling the blankets up to her chin and laying a kiss on the top of her head.

Chubs immediately went over to his bag and started digging through the contents. Liam took a moment to slip out of his now-soiled shirt and slide on a clean tee.

"Dammit it, I _knew_ I should have brought my whole medicine bag," Chubs complained, pulling out a small plastic case. Inside, Liam saw bandages, antiseptic, a couple small bottles of pills, and a thermometer.

"What else do we need?" Liam asked, grabbing the thermometer and a bottle of Tylenol from the case.

Chubs scratched his head. "Something to help with congestion, fever patches, fluids… lots of fluids. She needs like Gatorade or something with electrolytes."

"And tissues," Liam added. "I can only handle being a human Kleenex for a little while."

Chubs scoffed. "I don't blame you."

Liam rolled his eyes. "You can take the truck. I'll stay here with her. Take my wallet and get what you need."

Chubs nodded and grabbed the keys and Liam's wallet off the table. "I'll be back as soon as humanly possible. In the meantime, check her temp and write it down for me. Give her two tabs of the Tylenol and have her drink a glass of water."

"Okay, doctor," Liam waved him off. The door clicked shut as Chubs left.

Liam brought the thermometer over to the bed. It was the simplest kind; the one you place under the tongue and wait for the beep. He sat down beside Ruby, brushing her damp hair off her forehead. Her breaths were thick and congested, her nostrils flaring as she was forced to take breaths through her mouth. He didn't want to wake her, but he could not check her temperature with her mouth open.

"Ruby?" He patted her shoulder. "Wait up, darlin'."

She stirred, moaning a bit before opening her eyes. They were glassy with sleep, and she blinked up at him.

"What?" She groaned, closing her eyes again.

"I need to check your fever," Liam explained. "Let me help you sit up."

"I'm fine," She opened her eyes again, glancing over at him. "Really. I don't think I have a fever anymore."

Liam stared at her in disbelief. He could literally see the sweat on her hairline and the red flush to her cheeks.

"Let's just check to be sure," He put an arm around her shoulders and helped slide her into a sitting position, putting pillows between her back and the wall.

Ruby huffed when he brought the thermometer to her lips, but she opened her mouth obediently and let him slip it under her tongue.

"I'b tellin' you," She said around the object. "I'b fine."

"Shh, don't talk when you have that in your mouth," Liam reached over and tucked a few stray hairs behind her ear. A minute later, the shrill beep sounded and he plucked the thermometer from her lips.

She must have seen his face fall, because she leaned in deeper against the pillows and sighed. "I'm not fine?"

Liam shook his head. The reading said 102.6. Definitely higher than he thought, and he was scared. With a shaking hand, he placed the thermometer on the table and went to grab her a glass of water to wash the pills down with.

"Here," He said when he returned, shaking out two tablets like Chubs had instructed. "Swallow these. It's Tylenol. It will bring your fever down. Then Chubs said to drink that whole glass of water. We don't want you to get dehydrated."

For one, she listened. She swallowed the pills, but by the grimace on her face, Liam could tell it hurt. He should have asked Chubs to grab some throat lozenges too.

She downed the water, and actually asked him to refill it, which Liam happily obliged. She drank half of the second glass before setting it on the table.

"Thank you," She said through a yawn, settling back down against the pillows.

"Anytime, darlin'."

He leaned down to plant a kiss on her forehead, but Ruby reached up and wrapped her arms around his neck. "Will you… will you hold me? Just for a little bit?"

Liam smiled, pulling back the covers and crawling in right beside her. He pulled her legs onto his lap and pulled her close to his chest to her head was nestled into the crook of his neck.

"Mmm, that's better," She sighed, but her breath caught and started to hitch, and she let out several wet sneezes into her shoulder. "Ugh, sorry…"

Liam put a hand on her head and planted a kiss on top of her hair. "You're just fine, darlin'."

Her nose scrunched and she sneezed two more stifled sneezes into her shoulder, but the third one was a surprise and sprayed all over his chest.

Yes, he was a little bit grossed out, but seeing how absolutely miserable and embarrassed Ruby was made him forget about it.

She started to cry, and he quickly pulled her closer, wrapping his arms around her shaking frame. "Shh, Ruby, don't cry. Don't cry, darlin'. I'm not mad. No, I promise I'm not."

He rubbed his hand up and down her back. The crying was making her nose run more, which was causing more sniffling and more hitching, and soon she was sneezing uncontrollably.

"Hihiih'kstchuu! Hih-h'kstch! Hiii… h'ktschtsch… hihihi..h'kststch!" It was becoming hard for her to catch her breath between sneezes and Liam could feel how hard her muscle were contracting with each one.

 _Please hurry Chubs,_ He pleaded.

His shirt was now saturated in snot and saliva, and Ruby had snot and tears running down her face to her chin. He tried sitting her up, but she fell forward onto his shoulder, still consumed by the sneezing fit that just would not seem to end.

Finally, _finally_ , Chubs returned.

"I'm bac—holy shit!" He was quickly at the bed. "What happened?!"

"She got upset and started crying, and she just started sneezing and couldn't stop!" Liam was frantic, pushing the hair out of the face as she covered her face with her snot-soaked sleeve.

Chubs pulled out a box of tissues and ripped it open. Liam grabbed three, using them all to wipe Ruby's face where the snot was running from her nose like a river.

"How was her temp?" Chubs asked as he pulled out a box of Mucus Relief gen capsules.

"102.6," Liam replied, grabbing more tissues to continue to clean up her face. She had stopped sneezing now, either because she was done or just too exhausted to continue.

"Holy shit," Chubs hissed. "She took the Tylenol?"

"Yeah, but I think her throat is sore. It seemed like it really hurt to swallow."

"Aha," Chubs dug through the bag. "I'm glad I was smart enough to grab a bag of lozenges. I figured they might come in handy."

Liam smiled. "You're a lifesaver, Chubs."

"…ugh,"

They both turned their attention to Ruby. She lifted her head from where it was still resting on Liam's shoulder, using one hand to support it.

"Hey, you okay?" Liam pulled her hair from her eyes.

"No," Ruby finally admitted, shaking her head. "I feel like I was hit by a bus."

Liam chuckled and handed her the box of tissue. She blew her nose several times, but it seemed like the mucus was never-ending.

Chubs popped a couple capsules from the blister pack. "Here, these will help with the congestion."

Liam grabbed the glass of water and held it for her as Ruby swallowed the pills. She gagged slightly, tightening her face in pain as she forced the pills down.

"Does your throat hurt?" Liam asked, and she nodded in reply.

"Yes… it feels like I tried sword-swallowing and failed miserably."

Chubs grabbed the bag of lozenges, plucking one out and handing it to Ruby. "These should help numb your throat."

She nodded, unwrapping on and popping it in her mouth. "Mmm… thanks, Chubs."

Liam then helped her change out of her clothes (making Chubs step into the bathroom), now that they were thoroughly covered in snot and sweat. He let her borrow one of his tees, silently thanking his mother for making him back four times more than he thought he needed.

"You should try to get some sleep now," Liam said, helping her settle back into the bed. She didn't even argue. With a nod, she just flopped down against the pillows, letting her heavy eyelids fall over her eyes.

She was snoring within minutes.

Liam stood from the bed and stretched his back. He glanced down at his shirt and sighed.

"I guess I have to change again," He muttered.

Chubs glanced over at him from where he sat on his laptop and let out a snort.

"Twenty bucks that you're sneezing in the morning," He said.

Liam shook his head. "Nah, I'll be fine." He slid the shirt over his head, throwing it over with his dress shirt and grabbing another tee from his duffel bag.

"Bet?" Chubs held out his hand.  
Liam hesitated. He was already feeling a tickle in his nose and turned away to stifle a sneeze into his fist. He sneezed twice more, and the pressure started to build behind his eyes.

"Scratch that," Chubs retracted his hand. "Go to bed. I'll take care of both of you in the morning."

Liam went to argue, then was interrupted by another sneeze and he decided it wasn't worth it. With a silent groan, he went over to the bed and curled up next to Ruby. He pulled her close, pressing his face into her hair and kissed the back of her neck.

"Mmmm…" She sighed, rolling over to press her face into his chest. "Go… you'll get sick too,"

He responded with two rapid sneezes into the pillow and she snapped her eyes open.

"Too late for that, darlin'." He smiled, sniffling then scrunching up his nose as another sneeze escaped his lips.

"I'm sorry…" Ruby muttered, pressing herself closer against him. "I didn't want you to catch this too…"

"It's alright… now we got nothing to do but cuddle all day and let Dr. Chubsicle take care of us." Liam whispered so Chubs wouldn't hear.

Ruby giggled, nestling her head against his chest and letting out a content sigh. "I love you," She murmured, already drifting back off to sleep.

"I love you too," Liam closed his eyes, holding her close and letting the sound of her muffled snores lull him to sleep.


End file.
